MUSCLE CHURCH: Our Father, the Iron

Today could be called an 'assistance day' or to some 'chest day.' I'm not really into that mode of thinking. I like doing one bench press and some bicep and tricep work all together. My chest is so big now I don't like to do too much for it because it's just too big and I gotta live in this world! My biceps are growing too and following this workout I legit popped a seam in the sleeve of my Hulk shirt! What can I say? As C.T Fletcher so famously said, I commanded them to grow!  Poundages were about 60-75% of where "I am," for those that keep track of that. I train instinctively unless there's a contest on the horizon so the pounds kinda just are what they are. Certainly nowhere close to maxing out on anything.  Enjoy! Always start with some real good stretching for about 10 minutes! Elliptical, steady for 20 mins Ab Crunches 50 x2 Side Bends w 35lb plate 20 x2 Incline Bench 135/15 x2, 225/12, 235/10, 240/10 Close Grip I...

I can't put it into words most of the time. Sometimes when people give me that look that says, 'why do you put yourself through all that' I just don't have an answer. I just smile back and say 'it is what it is' and the conversation falls away. I even had the idea that I'd create a website to try to tell the world why I do it but the truth is I really couldn't tell you. There are moments that stick out. I can remember workouts from years ago like they were yesterday and I remember how I felt and the moments when I broke through a barrier or in some cases, and perhaps even more rewarding, helping others break barriers. I guess in a way I look back at my lifetime in the gym thus far and I feel like it's a career of sorts and there are times when I realize that my life has been more defined by my time under the weights than anything. I remember the first time I loaded six plates on the military press and how it was so easy and looked so impressive! ...

Well I guess funny things happen all the time right? So, as you may know from following me, I'm kind of on a half-rehab, half-diet thing now and I'm not doing any heavy training. Cardio. Stretching. Heavy bag. More cardio. Annnnnd the most dreaded two words in the world...light weights. I know, I know heavy training burns more calories yadda, yadda but you guys don't wake up with my knees and ankles everyday, a break is past due. Indeed. Time to take a step away from the heavy training... ...okay it's been 3 weeks, that's enough right? I can't put into words how miserable I feel right now. I've posted on here a lot about how the concept of 'muscle church' is something that transcends lifting weights or competing, it's something so close to my core that I haven't always been able to separate the workouts from the man. My identity is wrapped up in the iron and anytime I have to step back, even just a little bit, it's literally t...

The Man from Coldwater, Michigan...that line just reads like a crazy action flick! Dan "The Beast" Severn...yeah, he's kinda good When someone mentions the name Dan Severn, my ears perk up. Not that Dan would ever need me to defend him, but I’d take anyone to task for not agreeing with me that he’s one of the hardest, toughest, meanest fighters of all time and certainly among the most underrated wrestlers in American history. He’s also kind of a teddy bear and I once ate nachos with him while he was in his underwear. Let that last line sink in for a minute, ha ha ha! Back in the early 1990s MMA didn’t really exist and the UFC was a very small entity that had promoted a few shows and gained a dedicated but small following. Dan Severn had emerged as a very blue-collar, no-nonsense kind of man which fit the rough and tumble image that the UFC had during that time. His trademark grey shirt, handlebar mustache and grimace as he walked to the octagon became...

I’ve tried several times to sit down and pen something genuine about a man who really touched my life in a number of ways, perhaps too many to count if I’m being honest. I never hid the fact that I cut my hair and beard to look like Ferg. I could routinely be seen in and around any gym I trained in singing his praises and mimicking his soft-spoken, yet often profane, verbal tirades when given the chance. He was my guy. Everybody has their fighter or their team and mine was Kimbo Slice. Kevin Ferguson AKA Kimbo Slice 2/8/1974-6/6/2016 By all rights I shouldn’t ever have been a fan of his. See I’m an old school MMA nerd and I make no bones about how I think the sport has had a steady decline of testosterone (ironically, despite the many failed drug tests) and a rise in paper champions.  Even during the UFC’s rise to global prominence in the mid-2000s, which coincided with Kimbo’s rise to internet stardom, the MMA world slowly began to get a little too “fancy” for my taste. ...